Blessing Comings and Goings

Parshat Ki Tavo

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

I was very young when I first went to sleepaway camp. When the bus pulled up to camp, the first thing I noticed was a sign that said “ברוך אתה בבאך – Camp Munk.” I don’t recall if at that time there was a similar sign sending those leaving on their way with “ברוך אתה בצאתך,” but certainly in later years until today, the sign has been updated, made much nicer, and is double sided with the double sentiment of the verse that is found in our Parsha, blessing you when you come, and blessing you as you leave. (Devarim 28:6)

The fourteen verses which precede the lengthy Rebuke (Tokhacha) include a number of beautiful sentiments that are promised to us if we take care to observe the law and fulfill the Mitzvos of the Torah. Included in that group of commitments is that “the nations of the world will see that God’s Name is upon you, and they will fear (and therefore respect?) you.” (28:10)

Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein explained that the word translated in the previous sentence as “see” (in Hebrew it’s וראו) would be better translated as “understand” – that the nations will understand why God’s Name is upon you. This comes from a perspective that considers multiple meanings of the verses which surround it, while heavily focused on the verse with which we began.

 What is intended when blessing “you when you come and when you leave?” Is there anything to glean from a somewhat related verse we are familiar with from Tehillim – ה' ישמר צאתך ובאך מעתה ועד עולם? 

Let us consider a few possibilities. 

1. Combining teachings from Bava Metzia 107b and Taanis 5b, one understanding is that the blessing on coming (באך) refers to “you” (your existence in this world) while the blessing on leaving (צאתך) refers to “your children” who are צאצאיך, those who have come out of you. 

2. The blessing is on your comings and goings in business (Midrash Rabba). Rabbi Epstein notes that the order should be reversed if it were referring to the normal order of business. But because the blessing is meant to be eternal, it isn’t presented as your goings (as in, out to business) and your comings (as in returning home from work) which would represent a day in time. It references first your return home, and then your going out, because after your return home (באך) you will do it all over again in the morning, when you leave (צאתך) to engage with the world. Contrast that to David’s imagery of God watching over us day in and day out, which is presented based on one’s leavings and returnings, and seems to be looking out for safety in general, rather than specific success. 

 3. The Talmud (Bava Metzia 107b) has several interpretations, including “that your exit from this world should be like your entrance into this world – just as you entered without sin, so should you leave without sin.” This is an exhortation to be constantly improving, considering, and making choices that increasingly reflect of a more Godly existence. 

 4. The passage in Sanhedrin 7b puts the following thought into someone’s mind: “If only my comings were like my leavings” which refers to how a judge goes out to court to serve in that capacity. He is thinking, “If only I return to my home the way that I left it – just as I left not having sinned (or erred in the court), I hope to return not having sinned or not have issued an incorrect ruling.” Once we’re going this route, the verse could easily refer to one’s coming and going to and from the Bet Din as well: “I hope to come to the court with no sin, and to leave it without sin (or error)” 

5. Finally, Rabbi Epstein reminds us of the Mishnah in Avos which reminds us that this world is simply a hallway leading into the next world, which is compared to a banquet hall. Therefore, the blessing is that your exit into the banquet hall should be like the entrance into the hallway. Just as we enter this world without sin, we should merit to leave this world without sin.

This is far less a morbid reminder of our mortality and much more a reminder of how we are to aim to live our Jewish lives. 

 There are stories of enemies of the Jewish people who have observed that many Jews (tragically) live lives without God. These enemies, who very often believe in God, have stated that if the Jews abandon their God, He will not protect them, He will not preserve their rights to the Land of Israel and will not fulfill the promises to which He might otherwise be bound. 

There is likely much truth to that, and it is certainly a reminder of what our task in this life is all about. This goes back to the interpretation of 28:10, that if we don’t have respect for our own life-mission, how or why would anyone else? 

This is not to suggest that all of the Jewish people are guilty of such disregard for our relationship with the Almighty. Such a claim would be libelous!

The point is that while we can easily look at the blessing as meaning that God is blessing our comings and goings, in the manner we usually use that term, it is also possible that the verse is referring to our entrances into this world (whether us and our children) or is referring to our place in the world as ruled by the cosmos. 

 We absolutely have a task in this world, to live lives that are defined as Kiddush Hashem – a living sanctification of God’s name. Whether that refers to our behavior vis a vis neighbors, whether it refers to how we are to conduct ourselves in worldly or in spiritual affairs, or whether it means we have to simply abide by the Torah’s rules and represent God (this is not an exhaustive list of Kiddush Hashem options), we entered the world, and we expect to leave it one day. We enter life situations, and we move on from them. 

Just as the summer camp indicated, you should be blessed during your time here, the parting words affirm “You were blessed when you came, you’ve been blessed from your time spent here, and we hope and wish that you will be blessed as you turn on and move on to the next stage of life – whatever that may be and wherever you may find yourself.” 

Perhaps most importantly, we should see this as such a defining element of our life mission, that through our living it out, we should be blessed to be the example that the nations see and therefore come to understand of our special relationship with God.

Blessed you are when you come, and blessed you will be as you depart to the next stop on your physical, spiritual, and soul’s journey. Amen.